From Introduction:
Eyes of Murder
Idras Farhun was far from home, high up in the snowy mountains, the day he caught a glimpse of the gemstone. His only companion was a local guide, a peasant by the name of Larkin. He had the gem tied to a leather cord and he consulted it from time to time, but failed to keep it hidden. When Idras returned to the hunting lodge two days later, Larkin was not with him. He had fallen to his death, Idras told his companions, nearly in tears. He owed his life to the courage and selflessness of this steadfast guide. He refused to let the other gentlemen of the lodge talk him out of a generous donation to Larkin’s village, but he wished to start a small endowment that would help train more locals in mountaineering.
Behind closed door, Idras disclosed a very different attitude. Alone at last with his two closest friends in the lodge, Haristof Shtaal and Ghiom Fallenhurst — both minor nobles with lands not far away — he revealed the mysterious gemstone he had murdered Larkin for. Unlike the other gentlemen enjoying this mountain lodge with them, these three belonged to their own, far more secretive association — a secret cabal known only as the Black Lodge. They were evil men. They would commit any crime, destroy any person, to increase their power. And this magic gemstone would help them.